Woe and Worship
by padfootoftheearth
Summary: James and Lily are working their way through 7th year with some secret friendships.
1. Chapter 1

Lily sat on the chair in the Head's Lounge, and after doing at least three hours of homework on only the fourth day, she was re

Lily sat on the chair in the Head's Lounge, and after doing at least three hours of homework on only the fourth day, she was ready to relax. Seeing as her three best friends were still in the library studying for Transfiguration, she sat quietly with her head in her delicate pale hand. She turned to the desk across the room contemplating whether she should finish the remaining Astronomy homework, then decided against it when she thought about how little she new about the stars. So what to do? Then suddenly there was a loud knock at the door.

"Come in!" She suddenly regretted her quick response hoping it wasn't Potter. The door cracked open to reveal a sandy haired handsome boy with a Gryffindor uniform and a gash on his face.

"Hey, Remus. I was just thinking about how bored I was, you wouldn't fancy a walk would you?".

"You know, it looks like its about to rain, but I could go for some card games. Teach me a Muggle one!" Lily laughed and racked her brains for one that was worthwhile. She decided on 'Spit', one she learned from her teacher in elementary school. She brought the cards over from her desk and laid them out on the bed. Just as she begun to explain the game to Lupin, there was a knock on the door.

"Quick! Behind the couch!" Lily hissed. She didn't even had to tell him, as it turned out because he bolted behind her so quickly he could have set a record. She realized later how suspicious it would look if James decided to stay.

"It's open," she called a little shakily. As soon as she said so, an untidy head of black hair popped through a crack in the door.

"What d'you say, Lily? Wouldst the lovely maiden accompany me on a walk around grounds?"

"No, thank you, James, but my leg rather hurts." Lily said curtly. "Maybe another time." James fell on her floor and at first she believed that he had fainted, only to be unpleasantly surprised when he said in a dramatic way,

"Oh, the lady has given me hope for the future. Alas, the day is to come." Lily began to giggle until she suddenly realized that Remus Lupin was but 10 feet away.

"Oh, get up." She began to tug on his arms (without much success) to get him to stand up until he finally stood up on his own.

"Alright, Lily. If you need anything, I'll be around." He gave a roguish wink and walked out. As soon as the door clicked shut she turned around to look behind the sofa to tell Lupin the coast was clear. He had balled himself against the bottom of the headboard so that he could not have been seen by James unless he had been looking at him from the same way Lily was.

"He's gone." She said as she aimed some protective spells the door to the corridor outside.

"You said you wanted to go for a walk earlier, your leg hurts?"

"Yeah, it started hurting once he wanted me to go for a walk." They laughed and went on to play Spit.

Lily and Remus had become friends towards the end of their fifth year, when in a seating chart for divination they were paired. Many ridiculous situations caused them to become good friends. However, the two quickly realized that if James found out that they were friends he would constantly try to intrude on their friendship or bother Lupin to set he and Lily up. They decided it was best to remain friends in secret, and they remained that way for two years.

After Remus left, winning three Galleons from Lily due to the card game, Lily decided to go back to her homework. Just as she sat down the threatening rain clouds cleared and made her ache for some fresh air, but knowing too well that doing the work on the balcony would distract her. She pushed her head down to face the long piece of parchment she had to fill for an essay. As little as she knew about Vedic Astrology in the present, she pulled out a quill and began to work. Writing the essay was not being made any easier by the voices of the younger students enjoying their freedom that carried through the lounge's window. Although this was the last homework she had to do for the next two days, she wanted to finish the piece before she had to go down to the Great Hall to eat. She looked at the large clock on the wall and saw there were still three hours until the beginning of supper…

Almost as though he had read her mind, James knocked on the door for the second time and then she heard a loud thump. She removed the charms and then walked over the door, only to open it and see a very befuddled looking James on the floor.

"What are you doing that's so private in there, Evans?" Lily shrugged it off and asked him what he wanted.

"Well, the weather cleared up and I was hoping maybe your leg had too," he laughed.

"So I was wondering if you wanted to go hang out by the quidditch pitch. Sound good?" He asked.

"When you say 'hang out by the quidditch pitch,' do you mean watch you show off with your snitch? Or sit in the bleachers and talk?" She asked with a smirk.

"No, we could both play? Because I'm not one to sit and talk. That is, unless you're uncomfortable on a broom." Lily was at first taken aback that James declined an opportunity to show off, but then took the second part of his comment as a challenge.

"I'll have you know I am extremely capable on a broom, and I _will_ join you." James had gotten up by now, and had taken a few steps into her room.

"Alright, then. We'll stop by the dorms so you can change out of your uniform." Lily followed him out the door.

There had only been four days of school, but already Lily had noticed a significant change in James Potter. He was still hitting on Lily on a regular basis, but now in a sweeter, less obnoxious way. He had stopped playing with his snitch just to show off, he had slightly relented on Snape, he was less of a smartass with Professors, and he took responsibility as Head boy seriously. All these things were pleasant surprises for her, but she still did not feel comfortable having James know that Remus Lupin had such a close connection with her. She ruffled her red hair a little bit in front of the mirror in her room after changing into jeans and a sweater, and then walked out. She grabbed her broom from her large closet, then walked down the stairs to see James sprawled out on her a couch in the common room and had apparently not noticed that she had come back down."Well? Are you ready to go?" James laughed and grabbed his broom, and the two walked out of the dorm.

They immediately fell into comfortable conversation once they reached the hallways. They were about to leave the great hall to get to the pitch when Lily ran into her three best friends that had stayed in the library when she had been in her room.

"Lily!" called Shannon, Naomi, and Isabella.

"Where are you going? We were just heading up to your dorm." Isabella said. James looked at her; it was written all over his face that he thought she was going to ditch him. Lily opened her mouth to tell them that she was going to go hang out with James when a nasty, disdainful voice came before her.

"Yes, where are you going? Certainly not anywhere with James…. he wouldn't be interested in a scummy Mudblood like you, would he?" Evelyn Ludeworth appeared from behind Lily, wearing a look of pure hatred towards her.

Evelyn was a petite Ravenclaw with long black hair, very pale complexion, and shockingly yellow eyes. Although Lily, Shannon, Naomi, and Isabella detested her, all had to admit she was stunning. James stepped in before a fight could break out.

"Lily and I were just heading to-" but his sentence was cut off by Evelyn stroking his toned arm and said silkily,

"Wouldn't you much rather go back to your dorm, where we can….talk?" She chuckled softly after she said 'talk'. And looked at James straight in the eyes. James looked away quickly.

"Tempting as that is, I'd much rather go with Lily. Don't much like girls who have a nasty vocabulary and insult my friends. And it would do you well not to go around calling people that- us Heads make sure such things are taken care of." And with that, he put his arm around Lily's small waist and the two walked out. Lily looked back once to see her three best friends smiling at her, and Evelyn giving her the death glare.

"Thanks." Lily said. James gave her a squeeze and they kept walking.

Once they reached the pitch, Lily and James ran into Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Sirius said something to James, but Lily didn't hear, as she was busy looking at Lupin who was giving her a look of surprise. _I don't know!_ Lily mouthed to him, and he laughed.

"What?" Sirius and James asked at the same time.

"Nothing." Lily said.

"Alright, well we're gonna go get on our brooms for a bit. Later, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail." James said, and nodded to each Marauder at each nickname.

Lily and James walked to the center of the pitch and mounted and took off to warm up a bit. After a few minutes, Lily kept her broom stationary in the air and James pulled up next to her, and they began to talk again.

"So show me some of your best Chaser moves. I'm sure you've got some you can teach me." James laughed, and looked up to see that the rain clouds had reappeared.

"Alright, I'll just show you the basic reach, which is harder than it seems." He spent ten minutes talking Lily through it, then decided to just get on her broom with her.

"Here scoot up, I'm getting on behind you."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Instead of answering, he hopped onto her broom and Lily suddenly got a whiff of the light cologne James was wearing.

"James? Are you sure?" She said with a great amount of uncertainty.

"Trust me, I've got you." She turned around to catch his eye, and nodded. For only five minutes James helped her through the motions until they felt rain fall on their heads. It was light at first, but quickly turned into a downpour.

"I think we should get down." James said, and Lily agreed. They reached the ground when James said,

"Here, I know a shortcut through the changing rooms. This way." They walked in silence until they got to the unlit hall leading into the castle. James spoke.

"Well that was fun. We should do that again." Lily laughed.

"Yeah, but maybe not in the air, I guess I'm less skilled on a broom than I remember. But maybe-" She looked at James and found him staring at her. For a moment, she felt the need to have him near her. He took a step towards her, and her eyes began to close…


	2. Chapter 2

… James looked at the girl he had loved for at least seven years, and he thought about all the attempts to get her to go out with him. And on only the fourth day of school it looked like things were ready to begin for Lily and James. Suddenly James realized he had waited too long and that Lily's eyes were closed, as he started to lean in for what he had imagined for all of his time at Hogwarts. But just as his lips got close enough to Lily's that she could feel his warmth, Lily's eyes flew open.

"James, I- this is a little too fast- fourth day- I've never liked you before- I-I-have to go. Bye." With that ridiculous amount of stuttering, Lily tore off in the other direction, apparently not taking the shortcut back to the Heads dorm. James put his head down and thought about what had almost happened. He had run it through his mind a million times over the past years at Hogwarts, and he had been so close to having it come true. He didn't want to go and face her now. Not to apologize again. He went to go find Sirius and Remus. He didn't want to have to deal with Peter hanging on his every word. He went to the dorm to find the two Marauders, hoping that Peter had already gone down to dinner. As a pleasant surprise, he found the two sitting at the outside of the dark hallway he had walked through.

"Thought you'd be coming by here, mate. What went wrong this time?" Sirius asked. James let out a huge breath of air he had no idea he had been holding and dug his hands into his hair.

"I don't know! You know, we had an amazing time on the pitch, then we were in the hall back to the dorm and we were about to kiss…" James seemed to be replaying that moment over in his head for a while until Sirius cleared his throat as to say 'Finish the story'.

"Right, so we were about to kiss, we were this close! And then she freaked out and ran away. I thought things were going to change. I figured I might give up this year, then she gave me hope today, and now she runs away like a babbling clod!"

"Babbling?" Asked Lupin, with his eyebrows raised.

"Clod?" Asked Sirius, apparently finding James' word choice comical.

"Yeah," said James. "She tried to make an explanation for why she couldn't kiss me and I guess she couldn't come up with anything."

"She does that…" Lupin said.

"What?" James asked, apparently shaken again out of deep thought.

"Nothing." Remus said quickly.

"Well, I don't feel like seeing her at dinner. To the kitchens tonight?" James asked them. The two agreed, obviously empathizing with James.

The three of the handsome boys had just finished an enormous meal at one in the morning when James decided that it would be safe to go back to the dorm since Lily would probably be asleep. He said goodbye and took a couple donuts with him back to the common room. He walked slowly back to the dorm, wondering what it would be like for the next couple of days between him and Lily. He mumbled the password to the portrait of the fat lady that guarded the entrance to Gryffindor Tower,

"Moses supposes his toeses are roses."

"But Moses supposes erroneously." The portrait swung open so he could pass. James walked through the door and dropped the bag of donuts on the table at the entrance and started pulling off his shirt to go to bed, but suddenly looked up at the sound of a small gasp. He shook his head a little to wake himself up, and saw Lily sitting on the couch in front of the fire. Her slender hands were covering her big green eyes and she continued her babbling from before.

"Oh, sorry- I didn't realize-just-just tell me when you're shirt is on." James pulled his shirt back on and rubbed his forehead.

"What did you wait for me for, Lily?"

"Well, I just wanted to say sorry for earlier. I just thought things were happening to quickly, since it has only been four days of school…" James looked at her.

"I thought we were having a good time." James said stonily.

"Yeah, we were. I know, it's just that I've never liked you before, and now all of a sudden we're hanging out and putting our arms around each other… I just think we need to ease into things a little bit."

"Well, if that's the way you feel, I understand. Just tell me that before you go running off and leave me confused." Lily's face relaxed.

"Oh good, it's just that, well you know, I wasn't sure if I could trust you yet. It being only the fourth day- you've shown signs of changing and all. You know, it's just since before you were always so damn insulting about it-" James' face immediately went from calm to furious.

"Insulting? Lily? Insulting?"

"Well, yeah."

"I'll tell you what's insulting. Having a girl you've been asking out for days, then weeks, months, then YEARS! And she turns you down. And not only that, but in the most public and humiliating way possible. And even then, dreaming about her every single damn night, thinking of ways to get her to possibly, MAYBE want you back. And every time I try to be nice, you treat me like I'm scum, Lily. Scum. And I still try this year, thinking I've finally figured it out. But you know what? I think that I need to just stop. You obviously are out of my reach, and it's time to accept it." James' voice had gotten melancholy with the last two statements. His voice lowered to barely above a whisper, and said with his back to her,

"I think I need to just separate myself from you."

"Yeah? Well fine, James. I'm trying to apologize, and you have to give me your whole sob story about you chasing me? Fine. Goodnight, James." He had already begun to walk to the boys dorm, and with the dismissal Lily gave, he only looked back at her with the most miserable face in the world, and nodded. Before Lily could apologize again, or take back what she had just said, James had gone into his room, and Lily felt like he would never come out.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day there were no classes, due to several of the professors coming down with fevers and a strange collection of tentacles growing out of their torsos. Although the tentacles were quickly cured, the fevers were stubborn. Lily had not slept the night before, thinking about the fight she had with James, and how much she wanted to take all of it back. She had taken a shower early and waited in the common room doing the rest of her homework for four hours before she gave up and decided to wait in her own room. When she went down to lunch and came back up and realized that James probably left before she had come out, and she went back into the girls' dorm. However, there was a note on her bed from Lupin, telling her to go to the boy's dorm. Since she had nothing better to do, she once again left the dorms and went up the stairs to Remus' room.

"Hey," He said. Lily sighed a breath of relief.

"Oh good, you're here. Can you believe it's only the fifth day now, and me and James are already fighting?" Lupin laughed.

"Well, honestly, yes. But I suppose this is a different type of fighting isn't it? You two lovebirds?" Lily lay down on his bed and motioned for Lupin to lie down next to her.

"You know," she said, "We were having such a good time yesterday. I thought that things would move more slowly. And then almost kissing yesterday, it could've been like kissing a stranger." Lily moved on her side. "I guess I wanted it to be like us. We've been friends for such a long time…" No one spoke, but after a few seconds of pensive silence, their eyes met. Lily rolled onto her stomach, and leaned over so her face was right above Lupin's, and they kissed. Lily wondered if it was Remus' first kiss. If it was, it didn't show. At first she felt that this was meant to happen, but then she thought about James, and how she wished it were him. She got an odd feeling in her stomach, like kissing a brother. Her eyes opened, and she saw Lupin's eyes looking back at hers. She backed away slowly.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"It's alright. We got that out. But I think that should be the only time?" He said.

"Yeah. We're friends…I love you as a brother." Lily looked at Lupin with a sideways glance and laughed.

"You know what else?" Lupin said, and paused to wait for Lily to say something, but she did not so he finished the statement.

"I think this has told you something. You want James, don't you?" Lily chewed on that thought. _It's only been five days. Are you crazy? _Something else in her head spoke. _No, it's been six years. This is supposed to happen._

"Yeah, I have to go apologize to him."

"I always knew you two would be together. The story is too perfect. The best story a son could hear when he falls in love with some other beautiful red haired woman." Lily laughed and gently pushed Lupin.

"Come on, let's go down to the lake. Get your mind off your new lover."

"Fine, but let me get decent. I only went down to lunch like this because I knew no one would go since it's so early." Lily went into the bathroom and put some eyeliner on and put her long hair into a braid. She was putting the hair band around the bottom of the smooth braid when the door opened to reveal James fully dressed.

"Sorry, I'll use it later."

"Wait-James, I want to talk to you."

"Maybe later, Lily." And he walked away. Lily sighed and looked down into the sink.

"Maybe later." She whispered. She put on a happy face, walked out of the bathroom. As she zipped up her black hoodie, she got Lupin by the arm and they began to tiptoe out of the dorm.

Lupin and Lily strolled down the main street of Hogsmeade, looking at the shops that lined the streets and talking. The lake had been too crowded, so they decided to go on the monthly trip. Nothing seemed appealing, so they admitted defeat and walked into the bustling Three Broomsticks. Lupin bought them both butterbeers with the money that he had won from the card game earlier.

"So," he began. "What are you going to do about James?" He asked. Lily bit her lip and shook her head.

"I don't know he doesn't seem like he really wants to talk to me. When we were fighting he just got really quiet towards the end and said he wanted to separate himself from me. And he seems pretty set on that. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be able to get to him." There was an awkward pause, where Lily could tell that Lupin didn't want to tell her what he really thought. But he suddenly spoke.

"Lily, you might have been a little…er, quick to judge James, even after six years. But believe me, after years of hard work. He isn't one to give up easily. I know that right now he's thinking about you, and planning to apologize and win you over again. Whether its now, in a week, or maybe a few months. Things just need to smooth over a bit. I say you go up there and try to speak to him again right now to let him know you're sorry. And even if he doesn't respond, at least he'll know that you want to talk."

"You're right! I have to make him listen to me." They both chugged their drinks and set off at a hurried pace towards Hogwarts.


	4. Chapter 4

They reached the octopus in a short time, and Lupin grabbed Lily by the shoulders before she gave the password to the statue.

"Remember, this is fate. If you don't talk now, don't worry. There's always tomorrow. This-this is fate." Lily was apprehensive, even as she stared into Lupin's confident eyes. Thoughts about failure filled her head and whipped around her mind. She wanted nothing more than to run the other way and talk about how much she hated James with her girlfriends and laugh.

"I don't know if this is the right time, Remus. I don't want to push him…"

"Listen to yourself! Making excuses! Enough, Lily! You're always making excuses to abandon your personal life, and now you think you're feeling the most important feeling in the world- not for any man, but one who has been chasing you for six years. So stop stammering, stop making these asinine excuses and tell him what you need to. Now go." And with that, he spat out the password to the portrait and pushed Lily through the door. What he didn't know was what she would find on the other side.

James sat with his hands behind his head, fully dressed, lying on his bed with his vision blurred from the few tears that caught on his eyelashes. The things that had flown between his and Lily's mouth the night before ringing in his ears. How had he let all of his feelings come out in the open? _I knew this changing thing wouldn't work. Now she really knows what I feel. Look how this has ended up. The first time I've cried in three years, and her furious at me. That or pity, I don't know which is worse. _He had been lying there for three hours, already showered and now trying not to go and talk to Lily. He could hear the rustle of the homework she was doing in the common room waiting for him, and the occasional sigh that escaped her lips. It was harder avoiding to her than to get up, turn the knob, and talk to her. She had been there almost three hours too. Just as he was about to get up to speak with her, he heard her light footsteps walking back towards her room. _Good_, he thought._ I'm supposed to stay away from her._ He turned back to his room, where he had been trapped with his own furious emotions for almost eleven hours. He hadn't heard her leave her room; perhaps he could slip out and find the Marauders before she came out to wait for him again. _No, I need to be alone. Just out of this room!_ James walked out onto his balcony and looked out at the bright sky, unfitting for what he felt internally. The sun appeared to be shining, but the cold had already hit Hogwarts, and it was only about 10 degrees above freezing. He heard voices from behind her door and decided it would be safe to leave. He went to the bathroom to check his hair before he went out to find the rest of the Marauders. He opened the door and stepped in, but there stood Lily. She was putting the band around a beautiful auburn braid. She looked up at him, her exquisite face full of surprise, and her jewel like eyes looking straight into his.

"Wait-James, I want to talk to you." He wanted to say yes, that he wanted to go sit on the sofa and talk about everything with Lily. Maybe there still was hope, even after he had yelled at her, told her he was going to retreat. But no. Absence is said to make the heart grow fonder, but hopefully it would make a shell around James'.

"Maybe later, Lily."

He walked out again, turning his back on Lily's miserable face. James expected her to run after him, but she walked back through the other door. He thought of going back to his room to try and sleep for sweet release, _if the rest of my life is going to be without her, I have to start adapting now. _James steered himself away from his bedroom door and walked out of the door, quietly shutting the door.

James already felt better by the time he had gotten past the portrait. He shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking somewhere, he wasn't sure where though. He kept his head down and turned up his collar on his robes. He hoped no one would stop him, _I guess I'll go to the Forbidden Forest for a while._ He was walking out past the Great Hall when he heard a nasal voice.

"Oh, James! Wait up!" He rolled his eyes before he turned around, cursing himself for not turning himself into a stag earlier. Not that he could have just walked around the halls as a large animal and not get caught….

He turned around to the very unpleasant sight of Evelyn leaning against a doorframe, apparently looking provocative.

"Hi," he answered.

"Where're you going…. all…alone?" She had walked over to him and started tracing his chest with her index finger. He pushed her off and answered,

"On a walk. Alone." Evelyn pouted.

"Aww, has Lily let you down again, James?"

"Yeah, she has. Bye." He turned away from her and made to walk out of the castle when she said in a surprisingly human voice,

"Well, do you want to talk about it? I'm not busy or anything." Something about the humble way she said it made James want to tell her all about what had happened the night before. He turned and looked into her yellow, thickly lashed eyes.

"Yeah, ok." Her pink lips turned upwards at the corners. She put one small hand on his shoulder blade and they went outside together. James took a side-glance at her and noticed her shorter than regulation skirt, which looked even shorter in comparison to her black robes. _Lily wears her skirts kind of like that…. No. I'm not thinking about Lily. _They headed down the path towards the lake straightaway and Evelyn stayed quiet, letting the silence speak. James gathered what he wanted to say and what he didn't. Her lack of words nudged at the side of his head, telling him to talk already. He took a breath thinking about the regrets he would probably have later about it all. Despite all the thoughts in his head that protested strongly against letting let another beautiful girl know what he was feeling, he began to tell her all about the row he had with Lily the night before. He started from the almost kiss, ending with the scene in the bathroom only a few minutes before, and Evelyn stayed quiet, seeming to take in every thought he spewed out. When he finished he noticed that they were sitting on a random bench on a lawn looking out over the Forest. James' didn't even remember them finding the bench, let alone sitting on it. Evelyn didn't say anything in response to the story, only nodded. This was more than what James had expected however, waiting for a snotty reply or a groping in a place he didn't want her touching.

"I'm so sorry," she finally sympathized. "There's nothing worse than when someone you love turns out to be something you never realized." James' was taken even farther aback with the words of kindness.

"I've decided to move on though. And the quicker the better." James didn't see the smirk that spread slowly over Evelyn's face.

"I know, and you're so brave." Her voice and facial expression resumed sympathy. James looked at her with sudden interest. He stared for a few seconds before Evelyn began to giggle.

"What?" She laughed. He continued to stare intently.

"_What??_" Evelyn repeated. He chuckled softly, a laugh that didn't leave his throat.

"I thought you would be that last person to understand. It was really nice talking to you." She turned her eyes and appeared to be looking at something miles away and her face turned into a small smile.

"I guess I do come off cold. I'm just trying to protect my heart from the wrong people entering. But it would seem all the right people…just don't want to come in." At that she turned her pale face, with her cheeks bright pink from the stinging cold. She closed her eyes of daffodil yellow halfway, looking at James from behind her black lashes. He wanted to look away as her eyes bore into him with an intense light, but found himself too tightly bound. _I knew this was going to happen_, he thought. Evelyn must have been able to read minds, because she seemed to be able to say all the right things.

"I don't want to hurt you, James. Don't you want to get over Lily?" James nodded slowly. It wouldn't hurt…it didn't mean he had to date her…


	5. Chapter 5

Before James knew it they were back in the hallways of Hogwarts, seemingly heading to the Head's lounge

Before James knew it they were back in the hallways of Hogwarts, seemingly heading to the Head's lounge. James' mind, which over the past two days had been so chalk-full of thoughts, had gone silent. All that filled his ears were his and Evelyn's footsteps on the stone floors heading farther and farther up to the cozy room he and Lily were supposed to share. Evelyn somehow knew the password into the chamber and before James could protest they were on the large couch in front of the fire. Evelyn pulled James onto her with a startling amount of strength. All the sleeping thoughts of regret and resistance that might have slightly awoken were out to an even deeper sleep by Evelyn's smooth lips pressing against James'. James' replied with energy he thought had left him on the night that he and Lily had fought. His hands held her waist, then went down to her thigh, still cold from the air outside. They kissed furiously, only stopping once every few minutes to breathe. James was about to put his hands somewhere else when someone stumbled through the door, her red hair mussed up and halfway in her face.

"Lily!" James cried as he jumped off the couch rapidly. It looked like her legs were going to fall out from under her for a moment until she sprinted up the stairs to the girls dorm, hands over her face.

"Lily!" He roared. He looked back at Evelyn, leaning on one hip, the other hand wiping saliva from right under her lips. Her face was smug as she walked over to him.

"What can you do? She's the one who-"

"No just shut up, Evelyn. You knew this would happen. You didn't mean anything you said out there. I can't believe you would do this, you heartless bitch. I cant believe you would do this to me, you knew I still loved her. You don't care if I get over her or not, as long as you get what you want. Just leave." Her eyes flashed and her voice came out at a rushed, husky tone.

"I don't care how much you regret this or think you do but you know that this was not totally an accident." She walked past him, shoving as she went by and left the dorm, thinking happy thoughts about how wretched Lily must have been feeling.

Lily ran into her room, hot tears already streaming down her face, dropping off of her cheeks. The image of James and Evelyn on the couch kept replaying in her head, no matter how hard she tried to shut the image out. She squeezed her eyes shut, causing three streams to slip from under her eyelids. She started to cry even harder, the yellow eyes laughing in her mind. She could barely breathe then, her breath coming out in ragged chokes. Lily tried wiping the gushing of tears away and closed her eyes to dam the tears, but only ended up with palms full of mascara and a brand new sheet of water that leaked out from her eyes covering her face. She began to dry heave after ten straight minutes of sobbing and lay down on her bed. It's not like there was anything to miss.


	6. Chapter 6

Lily fell asleep soon after the tears dried, and she slept through the whole afternoon and dinner

I know the last chapter was really short, so here's a long one to make up for it  Enjoy!

Lily fell asleep soon after the tears dried, and she slept through the whole afternoon and dinner. She only woke at the sudden remembrance that she had rounds to do, whether there had been class or not. She decided to go early, hoping James would not run into her while she was heading out. They had decided on the first day of school that Lily would cover the entire castle to the right of the Great Hall, and James would take the left. Lily strode off in a hurry to begin patrolling the hallways. She regretted coming earlier than she had to, or not bringing a friend. Rounds left her alone with her thoughts, and right then she didn't want to think anymore.

Since she did not have the luxury of going back to her dorm to sleep even more, she began to walk along the halls. She pulled that hair band out of her hair, causing her red locks to fall upon her shoulders layer by layer. Her thoughts came in clashing waves, thinking too quickly to reason things in her head. The thought of James actually moving on made her sick, especially the feeling of knowing she could have stopped it if she had not been so quick to end things on that night. Before she knew it, half an hour had already past, lost in her thoughts and lost track of time. James was sure to already be doing rounds, if he isn't stuck in the room snogging Evelyn, she thought bitterly. The sadness began to ebb away and anger had come like a hot iron over her body. Her pace quickened as her shoulders relaxed and stopped switching levels, staying on the bottom one. Lily found a second year doing homework on one of the stairs and immediately spat at him,

"What are you doing? Get to your dorm!" She watched with intense narrowed eyes as the young thing scrambled all of his papers into his arms and scuttled off. Lily thought how her personal feelings should not affect those who were simply out after hours, but Lily didn't care. After the furious thoughts began to repeat themselves too often, she tried thinking of other things. She had been too busy the first days at Hogwarts to spend any time at all with her friends. Bored after not finding anything in the hallways, she decided to go by Gryffindor tower to see if anyone was in the common room. She whispered the password, it was already eleven and no one besides her and James were supposed to be up. Aware of the Potions exam tomorrow, she was sure at least someone moderately engaging would be awake. She stepped in; pleased to see Shannon playing Sticks with a fifth year named Dan that Lily did not know too well.

"Oi, Shan. Want to come with me on rounds? I'm horribly bored, and we've barely seen each other. Err- you don't mind, do you?" Lily looked hopefully at the mahogany haired girl, and quickly shot the boy a pleading look. Maybe she would tell her about James if she really felt like it. Shannon lifted her face to Lily and smiled,

"Sure, Lils. I'm losing to Dan anyway." She flashed a toothy smile to the boy, who seemed to melt at the very look and got up. Shannon put her shoes on and pulled on a sweater.

"Shall we?" She asked Lily as she hooked her arm through the red head's. The two stepped out of the hole, leaving Dan gaping after the two beauties that had both just acknowledged him.

Shannon had been Lily's friend since the first time they stepped into Hogwarts and were sorted into the same house. They were also lucky enough to have been assigned to the same room in Gryffindor Tower until Lily moved another room to help ease a new girl into their year. Shannon's mother was from Spain, resulting in her olive skin and dark brown hair that showed red in the bright sun. Her eyes were light brown, framed by curly eyelashes that never seemed to need make up. She was famous among the seventh years, along with Lily, for being able to be the sweetest person on Earth, but having the incredible ability to defend themselves in extremely acid and effective ways. She was relatively tall, with a smile that was so genuine it could literally make you grin for quite some time. Although she was one of the prettiest girls in the whole year, she constantly went searching for charms, spells, and even Muggle fixes for her hair, skin, legs, or anything else she might not feel comfortable with. Currently Sirius's main squeeze, she had reached the ultimate peak of desire. It was funny, though not uncommon to see Lily and Shannon walking together. Lily, petite with red hair standing next to Shannon, tall and usually scooting down hallways in an interesting new way or doubled over with laughter.

"So tell me, Señora Evans. What have you been up to? The last time I saw you was the first feast and sometimes in classes." Lily really did not want to talk about James right now, so instead directed it more towards Shannon.

"Oh you know, just trying to make sure this year is my best…. homework, Head's duties. What about you? The only time out of class I've seen you is when I saw you with Naomi that one time." Lily immediately cursed herself; she had been with James that day. Thankfully Shannon did not bring it up and instead continued with the conversation that was not about what had been going on in the Head's dorm the last five days.

"Nothing really. I'm failing Slughorn's class I'm pretty sure. Otherwise I'm doing pretty well I believe." Shannon knew what Lily was going to ask next before she even verbalized it.

"And how are things with Sirius?" Shannon sighed through a smile, minty air rushing from between her teeth from the mints she was constantly chewing on.

"They're good. He's really sweet and everything. I just wish everyone else could see what I see when I'm with him. He changes. If everyone knew the side that I knew, there wouldn't be a harsh feeling against him. Not to mention he's a fantastic snogger and I want to marry his hair." Shannon laughed and took a few leaps around the hallway while Lily continued to walk, shaking her head.

The girls continued to talk about things that only true best friends could talk about without being awfully bored until the wee hours of the morning, assuming that the professor's shifts had begun. If not, hopefully certain other people could take care of the hallways….

Lily had left a set of her uniform and some pajamas in the room that Shannon had to herself now, since two of her roommates that were twins had left for Beauxbatons on only the second day, and the other girl had another friend who she preferred to room with. They went into her room quietly, sneaking past Dan who had apparently fallen asleep in the common room waiting for the two girls to return. Lily laughed quietly as Shannon mumbled something about a three-way Sticks game. They got into the room quickly and collapsed onto beds after getting their pyjamas on. The thought of notes were not even remotely on their minds as they crawled beneath the heavy dressings of the beds.

"'Night Shannah," slurred Lily.

"Buenos Noches, Lilsabeth," replied Shannon. And the two fell asleep.


End file.
